


The Afterlife

by Gemcandy



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Crooked Kingdom Spoilers, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Its the afterlife folks, M/M, PTSD, Post-Crooked Kingdom, lots of death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-10-31 03:43:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10890975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemcandy/pseuds/Gemcandy
Summary: Matthias makes a friend in the afterlife as everyone dies. Shenanigans ensue





	1. Blackjack and Chatting

**Author's Note:**

> Get ready for that exposition and bad writing

Matthias found himself in a colorful field. Grass brushed his ankles, a light breeze pushing them.  
Was he dead? There was a boy, maybe 13 or 14 standing a few feet away. Matthias could feel this kid’s energy, like a hope that refused to die. Matthias took a step toward the boy, the sound of his step alerted the boy. The boy turned his head to look at Matthias, he had deep brown eyes and somewhat curly coffee hair.  
“Hello!” The kid greeted politely.  
Matthias felt uncomfortable, dealing with kids was not a fun endeavor.  
“Greetings, uh- I’m Matthias if you were curious.”

The kid blinked before smiling warmly.“Hello Matthias, wanna play cards?”

Matthias stared at the child, before sighing and nodding. If he was really dead at least he had something to do and someone to do it with. The kid jogged over towards Matthias. Suddenly they were both in a cabin sitting at a table, A deck of cards sitting between them.

“So, Matthias, what card game would you like to play?”  
Matthias thought for a bit before deciding.  
“Blackjack.”  
Suddenly the deck was split between them, an ace of spades set down.  
Matthias looked at the cards and then at the boy. “How-” He started but the boy cut him off.

“Don’t worry my man, it's the afterlife you can do whatever you want.” The kid said grinning. A cup of hot chocolate just appearing in his hand. “Try it!”

Matthias realized how weird this whole thing was, just a few minutes ago he had been shot in the chest and now he was watching a child create stuff out of thin air.  
He focused his mind on something easy and simple, an apple. Seconds later an apple appeared in his hand.  
The boy clapped.  
“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen someone here,” The kid commented. “I’m Jordie by the way.”

Matthias tried his best to give a warm smile.  
“Well nice to talk to you Jordie… How long have you…”

Jordie laughed. “Dead? I don’t know, perhaps a year? Time is weird here…” Jordie took a sip of his hot chocolate, before laying two cards down. “Those are twos by the way.”

Matthias placed down a three, and asked another question. “How did you die?”

“Plague, and yourself?” Jordie asked, setting down what he assumed was a four.

“I was shot.” Matthias stated simply. Placing down a five.

“Tell me all about it! We’ve got a literal eternity!” Jordie probed setting two cards down.

“I was shot.” Matthias repeated. “And, blackjack.”

“Shit,” Jordie murmured before taking the deck. “How could you tell?”

 

Matthias shrugged, “I could just tell that you were lying.” Matthias said placing down a card.

Jordie laughed. “Where do you come from? How old are you?”

“Fjerda.” Matthias answered honestly. “And I’m 18”

“Sweet! I’m from Kurch, and I’m 13.”

“Did you die in Kurch?” Matthias asked.

“Yeah, in Ketterdam. Did you die in Fjerda?”

Matthias remembered the plague outbreak 9 years ago, then realized this kid probably died then. He sighed and answered the question. “Like you, I died in Ketterdam.” He started to stare at Jordie’s face, he looked moderately familiar. “Is your family alive?” Matthias asked.

“Not anymore, my father died while plowing, my brother may be alive but I don’t know. We were thrown in Reaper’s Barge, mistaken for corpses,”

Matthias hummed, setting down his cards. “You died awfully young, I’m sorry…”

“So we aren’t playing anymore?” Jordie asked.

Matthias nodded. "I just need a moment."

“You’ve got all the time in the world.” Jordie stated, before trying to be quiet. Five minutes later he was talking about how to properly grow Jerda.  
A few hours passed and he found that this kid was precious. Though Jordie took a tough facade Matthias could tell that he was just a big ‘ol nerd.  
Over what he felt like days he learned how this weird place worked. Everyone who had ever lived was here, there were no exceptions. He also knew that the space of the afterlife was infinite, and it was uncommon to find another person randomly, unless he and them had a strong bond in the living world. He also knew that the rules of this world were very limited. 

Anyone could change part of it, at any time, the laws of physics were very weak here he could fly if he wanted to.  
For a while it was just Matthias and Jordie, Matthias had learned that Jordie had died 9 years ago and would be 22 if he was still alive. He constantly talked about his younger brother and what happened to them. Though never gave a name.  
“Names aren’t that important here,” Jordie had explained to him.  
They were close friends by now, though Matthias couldn’t stop thinking of the living world. He missed Nina so much, that it hurt. He missed the others too, but it didn’t hurt the way Nina’s did.

But he knew they’ll meet again, someday.


	2. Wylan Cries under a mountain of dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaz, Jesper, and Wylan really like dogs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would apologize for this chapter being so short but i couldn't care less

Kaz was running, holding a leash of about ten dogs in one hand, his cane in the other.  
Why had he decided to infiltrate a merch’s house again? Oh yeah because money is great.   
Anyways his destination was the Van Eck. Probably the only house that belonged to a rich person that he knew wouldn’t kill him.  
It was funny because about three years ago he would have been shot on sight.  
When he arrived at the door he pulled out a key that Wylan had given him and entered, slamming the door shut behind him, about 10 dogs of various shapes in sizes tracking mud on the already dirtied marble of the house.   
Kaz just really liked dogs. A particularly small yet fluffy one had been very sweet to him, and then so many more revealed themselves, and then he decided to non-legally adopt them all. Or at least dump most of them of Wylan and Jesper and come to visit them exclusively for the dogs.  
He held the fluffy small one in his arms and pulled the rest of the dogs in. They all barked loudly.  
Kaz let go of all the leashes and let them explore the mansion.

Kaz set the dog in his arms down then headed to a plush couch waiting for the chaos to begin.

Almost immediately Kaz heard a shriek. Most likely a maid. He guessed correctly as a maid he recognized as Cecilia ran in, a small Cavalier King Charles spaniel following her.

The maid took one look at Kaz, who smiling devilishly, and glared.

“Mr. Brekker, how did you get in?” She asked in a scornful tone.

“Keys my dear.” He answered showcasing the set of keys he had. 

The maid scowled. “And what are these beasts doing here?”

“They’re called dogs.” Kaz corrected with a smug smile. “I figured Mr. Van Eck and Mr. Fahey would like a gift.” 

The maid looked at him angrily before stomping off.

A few minutes later Wylan walked in, wearing casual clothing.

“Hi Kaz.” He greeted simply. “Cecilia told me you had come.”  
And then the dogs came pouring back into the main room, trampling Wylan where he stood.

Wylan stared at an excited border collie which was looking at him straight in the eyes.   
Wylan began to cry with joy.  
He really liked dogs.  
Wylan laid still weeping with pure happiness as many dogs of various breeds began to lick his face.

Kaz was on the verge of breaking out laughing when Jesper appeared in one of the doorways.  
“Kaz if you laid a hand on my beautiful beautiful husband I will slaughter you.” He began but then cast an eye down to Wylan who was crying tears of joy under a mountain of dogs.

“This is heaven.” Jesper whispered afterwards he got down on the floor next to his husband and hugged every dog.  
“I’m going to go.” Kaz announced then walked out when neither of the men gave a response.  
How rude of them. He thought as he left the house.

________________________________________

It took Matthias a while to notice how familiar Jordie looked. Yes they had spent some time in the afterlife, but Jordie reminded him of someone he knew.  
But he couldn’t quite place it.

“Do you think there’s any place in Fjerda that’s like Ketterdam?” Jordie asked at one point.

“You know of the Ice Court right?” Matthias asked glancing to Jordie.

“Yeah, I have, heard it’s impossible to get out of.”

“Well that's probably the closest thing I could imagine to Ketterdam, because there’s no way to escape it.”

“Well that’s just pessimistic.” Jordie stated.

“You’re optimism disgusts me.” Matthias responded giving a face of fake disgust.  
Quiet hung in the air before they Jordie snorted, and Matthias in response to the snort started laughing hysterically.

They were both big nerds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someones gonna die I should know I'm the author of this fic


End file.
